Kikuyu benga artiste, Mika Rua is a man who attracts love and hate over his “adult music” in almost equal proportions.
This is what has earned him a name not just in Kenya but also among Kenyans in the diaspora where he has performed countless times.
Surprisingly, there are instances where his fans in the diaspora got angry with him for toning down on his ‘adult music’ making him do it under duress.
His choice of music has sparked talks in town for the last couple of years that his mother disowned him over his choice of music.
But how true is this?
A while back, he gave an interview on Kamemem FM’s news presenter Dun Wainaina’s YouTube channel where he cleared the aired on his mother allegedly disowning him.
Rua, a man who is calm, jovial and composed starts with deep laughter as he explains the reality on the ground.
He says that his mother has never disowned him as rumour has it. She has been supportive of his music career.
Comically, Rua said that there is no way his mother could disown him yet she has never heard any of his ‘adult music’ because it is only played in clubs and she “doesn’t drink”.
“My mother is the one who taught me music…my mother has supported me for a very long time,” he offers.
He adds: “For adult music, my mother doesn’t know how I sing. My mother cannot go to a club.”
Rua notes that in his media appearances, he keeps away from adult music and sings clean mugiithi music which his mother has heard and is proud of.
The popular artiste acknowledges that it is possible his mother has been informed of the kind of music he plays late into the night in clubs but has never witnessed it in person.
For his father, it is a different story; he one day listened to him in a club and they rode together back home and said nothing.
He narrated that he invited his father to one of the clubs he plays music in. While entertaining revellers as is the norm, he remembered that his father was in the building and “toned down”.
But the manager approached him and told him that he would still play his adult music but first, his father had to be dead drunk. As it were, he was bought for more alcohol and acted like he was very drunk.
Rua on seeing this got back to the stage and went full throttle on his adult music thinking his father was deep asleep but he wasn’t. He heard it all.
They got home and he never asked him anything about this until years later when he advised Rua to “measure his adult content” in his content.
He then explained to him that if he did so, he would lose his fan base.
Rua opines that he adjusts his personality based on where he is. When he is at home, he is a”Baba Tecla” and when with “Kiama Kia Ma” elders,” he is an elder too.